Is it ice cream? A protein shake? Smoothie? - and hats off to me for being classy and drinking it out of a Budweiser glass ...

SHAKEOLOGY

It contains over FORTY super foods - including proteins and amino acids, antioxidants and super-fruits, phytonutrients and super-greens, adaptogen herbs, pre and probiotics and digestive enzymes.

In a nutshell (no pun intended) - there is no freaking way you can get this nutrition anywhere else unless you feel like buying up the whole supplement section at whole foods. And ain't nobody got time for that!

Well my dear friends - I'm here to show you why I care and what the heck this amazingness has done for me and what it can do for you! I'll be doing a series of NUTRIENT NERD posts - I hope that you will tune in.

Since college I have always found nutrition to be interesting! As I got into running I kept having REPEATED injuries - for the most part stress fractures (hip, foot, leg...) - it was awful and so defeating! I was finally forced to take a look at my nutrition! Yes I was eating healthy: think salads, lean protein, etc - but something was off. I was missing something.

If we aren't fueling our bodies properly we are simply going to have issues. Think: injuries, overweight, chronic inflammation, diabetes, increased hunger, weakness, muscle loss - I could go on and on!

When we aren't fulfilling everything our body requires it is searching for MORE. It's the little voice in our heads screaming "feed me! Feed me!"" and what are we usually drawn towards 0 SUGAR! Why? Because it is a QUICK FIX and gives our body that quick high and surge of endorphins. Sugar literally gives our brain a high. Sugar is like a drug. It is an addiction.

So how do I ensure my needs are being met? Shakeology! This has been a life saver for me in more ways than one. There are soooooooo many "shakes" on the market that it is confusing and a lot of them disgust me to be completely honest. So how is Shakeology different? Let me give you a simple tip. READ. THE. LABEL. - and I'm not talking about the calories, fats, protein - I'm talking WHAT IS IT MADE OF. Have you checked the actually INGREDIENT list of your favorite protein shake that you just swear by? -

You can google EVERY SINGLE INGREDIENT in Shakeology and find out where it is found, what it has been proven in studies to improve - DIABETES. HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE. HIGH CHOLESTEROL. SUGAR CRAVINGS. ENERGY LEVELS.

Reading the ingredient list of many products out there can be terrifying once you start Googling. Added sugars, fillers and straight up CHEMICALS are being used to make the "nutrition" label to look pretty.

All I know is that Shakeology for me has meant:
Energy all day without the afternoon lull.
Injury free.
Um... better digestion (i'll leave it at that) - think no more bloat.
Cholesterol down a total of roughly 50 points. (more to come on that later)
No more craving for pop or binging on sugar.

Answering these questions in this series:
Is Shakeology safe for your kids?
Is it safe during pregnancy and/or breastfeeding?
Should I still be taking prenatal vitamins also?
Does it contain any artificial sweeteners (hint: NO)
Is it Gluten - Free?

What questions will you add to the list?

Want to find out more and how you can try it? Email me at fitwithheart@gmail.com or comment with your email below!